1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a license plate holding bracket attached to a vehicle which has a tailgate at a rear end of a bed, and a license plate holding structure thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a license plate is normally attached to a rear bumper placed at a lower position of a cargo bed of a vehicle which has a tailgate at the rear end of the cargo bed. In a license plate holding structure of this type of the vehicle, generally, an attachment surface of the license plate is formed on a rear bumper, and the license plate is directly attached to the rear bumper. For example, such a structure is disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Tokukai-hei-10 (1998)-230799 (Patent Document 1), in particular, in page 4 of the specification, and in FIG. 1.
Assuming that the license plate can be attached to the tailgate, a design freedom in shaping the vehicle can be considerably improved. However, in a case that the license plate is directly attached to the tailgate in the same manner as the above described license plate holding structure, when the tailgate is set in an almost horizontal state, a problem arises that the license plate cannot be seen or recognized from the rear of the vehicle (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).
In order to solve the problem, there is an idea that the license plate is attached to the tailgate so that a reciprocal rotational movement of the license plate relative to the tailgate can be freely performed, and the license plate is reciprocally rotated relative to the tailgate when the tailgate is set in the almost horizontal state. According to this idea, the license plate can be seen and recognized from the rear.
However, regardless of whether the tailgate is set in an almost horizontal state or an almost vertical state, it is difficult to reliably support the license plate, and another problem may arise that a vibration or the like occurring in the license plate cannot be suppressed.
Further, when the license plate is placed in the vicinity of the tailgate, the member in the side of the license plate becomes very close to the member in the side of the tailgate. Therefore, an operator cannot insert his or her fingers between the member in the side of the license plate and the member in the side of the tailgate, so that he or she cannot grasp nor hold the member in the side of the license plate. Therefore, there is a probability that it becomes difficult to perform the reciprocal rotational operation for the member in the side of the license plate.
Because a hand of the operator tends to touch an exposed portion of the member of the license plate, or dust stirred up by rear tires tends to adhere to the exposed portion, a problem arises that the exposed portion is damaged and worn away. Further, when the member holding the license plate is made from a metal, a problem that the member tends to become rusty, arises.
When welding nuts are used to fasten the license plate to a bracket, it is required to set the member of the license plate away from the member of the tailgate by a setting space of the welding nuts. Therefore, it requires a large sized bracket.
When the license plate is set to erect on the tailgate, it is difficult to fix a side of the license plate reliably, and thereby the strength and durability of the license plate may be decreased. Therefore, there is a large possibility that the license plate is fallen away or detached from the tailgate while the vehicle is running.